Out and About

Yesterday we walked up the riverbank to view the floods and saw a lot of Fieldfares and Redwings in the hedgerows.  There seem to be few berries in the hedges and as the ground is flooded it is not clear what they are finding to feed on around here.  Pied Wagtails, on the other hand were finding the conditions to their liking at the edge of the floods.

The Red-breasted Mergansers were still at Widewater today.  They were still feeding very busily, but one of the males was finding time to display to one of the females who did not seem to be too interested.  Apparently this winter displaying is quite normal and they do it so that they do not waste any time on it when they return to their breeding grounds.  There were a dozen Little Grebes again, and a Little Egret looking cool and elegant while trying to catch some lunch.

The beach defences seem to have held up well to the battering they have had over the last few weeks, but a lot of shingle has shifted and the Environment Agency is busy pushing it back up again.